Saturday, October 2, 2010

Guess What Month It is...

Give up? It's SOCKtober, of course!! That month in which knitters and those privileged to received socks from knitters celebrate the no-longer-so-humble article of clothing that is the sock.

It's not an overly organized event; you pretty much just do what you want whether it be knitting as many as you can, knitting challenging socks, knitting special socks, or just reveling in wearing your hand knit socks.

Kirsten Kapur at Through the Loops! is doing another mystery sock KAL this year. I thought about joining because it would be fun but didn't quite feel up to committing. You know I could never just knit the sock; it would mean extra blogging, extra time on Ravelry chatting with all the other KAL-ers and feeling the pressure to finish each clue before the next one came out.

Instead I decided to knit a pattern I liked with some yarn I got at Red Purl at the Green Sale last spring. Noro Kuyeon Sock yarn (70% wool/30% nylon) in some lovely shades of blue and blue/purple. A lot of people go heel* crazy for anything Noro so I had to try it out.

The pattern, Leyburn, was discovered on the Yarn Harlot's blog. (The specific post is here but that kind of dumps you into the middle of the whole throwing the first pitch story, so I'll let you know the end of that story is here. Even though it has nothing to do with knitting, it's very much worth a read.) Leyburn was "July" in her self-imposed sock-of-the-month club.

Back to the pattern itself, I think the slip stitch pattern is great for showing off the colours in a variegated yarn. It also should fit the bill as far as being easy to memorize but still interesting.

I cast on last night. And I managed to finish the short-row toe. A nice beginning.

This morning I got past the initial increases and started the lattice pattern.

About eight rows in I tried it on and it is way too big.

This is kind of a good thing. The whole time I was knitting, I felt like the needles called for in the pattern were too big for the yarn. It made the fabric too thin; I like my socks denser. But I was following the pattern. My yarn was close in size to the yarn called for in the pattern so I had no reason to change anything. But now I do. And I will.

Another reason I need to restart this sock is that the lattice pattern isn't working out very well for me. The pattern warns you not to pull the strands too tight or they will make the sock pucker and make it hard to get your foot in there.

But apparently I overcompensated because my loops are way way too loose:

Can you make it out on that picture? (You can always click it to enbiggen.) I will have to pull those strands a lot snugger as I go along next time. I've done the lattice pattern before (for instance on the recent pink hat heel socks I made) but those patterns knit more rows between the making of the loop and the picking it up. That would eat up a lot more slack.

In any case, I will be starting over because the only thing worse than redoing something is keeping it when it's wrong.

I'm also considering making the toe less pointy. I like longer toes, but not quite this pointy. I'll have to think about it because you can't have one without the other!

I have to add that after working on the Summit shawl and Truffle tunic exclusively for the last few weeks, it is such a nice break to have something small on the needles! Light, wieldy, and lightning fast!!

_______________
*heel (pronounce like "hail") is a dutch word meaning "very." My mother and grandmother used it, however, when the english "very" wasn't enough. This is the superlative of very. And it was always emphasized and drawn out for about three words' worth: Susie is haaaaaaail crazy for this or that.

Who am I and What am I Doing Here?

I'm a mid-40s married full-time job holder mother of none who likes to make stuff. Knitting, tablet weaving, and quilting are what I'm most into now, but I'll also crochet, bead, and sew depending on the need and my mood.

I'm blogging to keep my projects organized (?), share them with others, and get feedback and advice if you've got it.